The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1887-03-18
UP in q Balloon.

says d WIlCoI Ill GIlo century. AS
nearly as can be judged. | was more
than mile high, and all sounds from
the earth had ceased. There was a
death-like silence which was simply
awful. 1t seemed to my overstrained
/ nerves to forbode disaster The ticking
of the watch in my pocket sounded like
trip-hammer. could feel the blood
as it shot through the veins Of my head
and arms. My straw hat and the will
low car snapped and cracked, being
contracted by the evaporation of the
moisture in them and by the fast-cool-
ing temperature. was compelled to
breathe a little quicker than usual on
/ account of the rarity of the atmos-
| phere. l became sensible of loud,
monotonous hum in my ears, pitched
about on middle of the piano, which
seemed to bore into my head from each
side, meeting in the centre with pop;
then for instant my head would be
clear, when the same experience would
be repeated. By throwing out small
pieces of tissue paper | saw that the
balloon was still rapidly ascending.
While debating with myself as to the
ACCESSIBILITY of pulling the valve-rope q
was afraid to touch it for fear it would
break and discharging some gas, the
earth was lost sight of, and the convic-
ton was forced upon me that this must
be the clouds! 1t made me dizzy to
think of it. Above, below and upon all
sides was a dense, damp. chilly fog.
| Upon looking closer, large drops of rain
cou'd be SEEM silently falling down out
of sight into what seemed bottomless
space.
l was alone a mile from the earth,
in the midst of a rain-cloud and the
silence of the grave. Moreover had
sole charge of the balloon; ii it had not
been for this fact could have &aken (:
little comfort as | had no confidence
in my ability to manage it. A rain
| storm upon earth is accompanied by
noise; the patter of the rain upon the
houses, trees and walks always attends
the storm, while here, although the
drops were large, they could not be
heard falling upon the balloon or its
belongings. Silence reigned supreme
The quiet spoken of by DR.. Kane a..
other Attic explorers as existing in til
northern regions was hubbub beside
this place. More tissue paper was
thrown out; seeing that it seemed to
ascend knew that the apparatus was
slowly descending, being brought down
by the weight of rain upon it. Soon the
earth was in view. How peaceful and
quiet it looked! Immediately the whist
ling of railroad trains could be heard
Now mountains could be distin-
guished from valleys, and the cawine
of frightened crows and the shouting o;
men could be heard. passed immedi-
ately over Tallcott mountain tower,
where there were some 200 people en-
joying the day. 1 could plainly hear
one of them blowing horn. AS the
balloon slowly descended men could be
place of landing. Now the hum of in
sects could be heard, and the grapnel,
with hundred feet of rope attached,
was thrown out; it soon struck the
ground, and dragged lazily along
through the turf and over the stones
without getting secure hold. APP
preached a man weighing 800 pounds.
who was sitting on stone wall all out
of breath from running. Without the
formality of an introduction I asked
him to "catch on to that anchor and
stop the business" With a woe-begone
look upon his honest face and an omin-
Gus shake of the head he replied: "it's no
use, young fellow; l can't work my bel
lows" But as the rope twitched along
near him he fell uponit, and my journey
was ended.
The following are interesting facts
about the stars: Alpha Centaurii, the
leading star in the constellation of the
| Centaur, is the nearest star to the earth,
| so far as known. Its distance is usually
placed at from 20.OO0,0O0,000,O0O to 3d.
| OO0O0O.0000O0 miles from the earth. A
star called Sixty-one Cygni is claSsed as
second in distance, being put at 81, $780,
999OOOOOO miles distance from our
globe. Most of the stars, however, are
millions of times farther away from us